Experience of Christ: The Spirit of Jesus

And they passed through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, yet the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. (Acts 16:6-7, RecVer)

By virtue of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit has been given to us (Acts 5:32) inwardly on the day of our spiritual birth. Since then, this Spirit of Jesus or the Holy Spirit has been leading us day by day provided one pays heed to His leading. It is now the responsibility of every believer to live and walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16, 25).

As such a one learning to live and walk by the Spirit, I have been experiencing the Spirit's leading either in going ahead or in being forbidden. As Christians, we have to proactively take actions according to the light of God’s word. Should the Spirit forbade us, then we should immediately take action to stop going any further. Otherwise, as the peace of God abides within, we must proactively carry out God’s commission.

In a number of cases, I have been restricted in my spirit and forbidden to go ahead with what I initially planned to do. In fear and trembling before God, I would check every matter before moving ahead. This practice helped me spent more time to pray over matters that concerned me. Be it considering my brothers' fellowship on joining a National College Students training, or consulting brothers for official matters, or approving a huge amount of money for construction of distribution books storeroom, or planning for a distribution trip to Karnataka, or even applying credit card for paying my daughter's admission application fee online, or even trivial matters like cutting hair or buying household items, and many other matters too. The Spirit's forbidding and allowing, toggling between a "yes" or a "no", has been my constant experience. I believe, I am being trained to follow the Spirit succinctly. In many cases, I had to change my own initial plan and thought. What my natural man thought initially, when proven to be not of the Spirit, I changed. In this way, the Lord trained me to follow him and experience the Spirit's leading step by step. This reminds me of the Lord’s words to Simon, son of John.

Truly, truly, I say to you, When you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go. (John 21:18, RecVer)

I am glad that I have been led by the Lord through the saints surrounding me, my brothers in the church, my family members, and even my circumstances. I am learning to be pliable, to be sorber minded, and not to be rebellious or disobedient in any way. I fear God and even more fearful to grieve the Holy Spirit. The peace of God in everything I decided to do is of utmost importance to me. In this way, I learned to experience the Spirit of Jesus.

A Christian life is a life of experiencing the Spirit of Jesus, in many cases, of forbidding. What a blessing it is to be forbidden when not in the perfect will of the Lord! What a salvation!

God's Gospel Move

And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he who sits on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer. (Revelation of John 6:2, RecVer)

The Lord in His sovereignty has done a complete overhaul in the way we carry out the gospel move in our locality these days. With the changing political and religious atmosphere, the Lord also moves ahead in leading us to take ways conducive to His move despite the outward restrictions and risks. All for the preparation of His coming again and perfecting us to be His mature Bride. One thing is sure, no one can stop the Lord’s gospel move. Bills may be passed, laws may be enacted, leaders may change, but Jesus remains the same; He is the Lord over all!

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal with God a treasure to be grasped, But emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming in the likeness of men; And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of a cross. Therefore also God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, And every tongue should openly confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11, RecVer)

In God’s gospel move in our church life, we brothers have been praying together as much as we can, and more brothers have been gathered together every Saturday afternoon for prayer, pray-reading, and practical service fellowship. Besides all these initiatives from our side, we also made significant improvement in the way we carry out the shepherding of the saints and the new ones.

Organic systematization of the small group meetings

Since the last full-time training, we have organically systematised the way we carry out the small group meetings. We have now been practising cherishing one another in the exercise of the divine love in caring for every member of the small group, praying for one another's specific and timely needs in a human yet divine way. At the same time, supplying the nourishing needed with the word of God as the divine light to shine on each one. And ushering each member into their organic functions to carry out the divine will, the universal priesthood of every member functioning to build up the Body of Christ. This new practice has revived the small group meetings!

Similarly with the small groups in the new ones' homes, we carrying out the same. So, far, five small groups have been regularly functioning each week with more and more saints participating and functioning. According to the need of the saints, we pursue different ministry materials; Life Lessons, Life-studies, and Shepherding Materials. Thank the Lord for this new way.

Besides, I personally also started a home meeting with a young brother, reading the Bible together with the help of study notes, testimonies, and prayers.

The Lord also opened new doors in our area for the gospel move through our children's classmate's and their families.

Outward situations may go on according to the trend of the world. Perhaps, it may worsen by the day, but God's gospel move cannot be stopped. In fact, God’s move also is intensifying against the tide!

What a blessing to live in this time of the age! God’s move is being intensified at the toughest time, and how blessed are we to be a part of this blessed move. Outward restriction draws out inward revival.

Praise the Lord for God’s gospel move! What a privilege to be a part of God’s gospel move! 

Experiences of Christ: Parental Shepherding

The plans of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from Jehovah. (Proverbs 16:1, RecVer)

As our heavenly Father cares for us, His children, we, as human parents, also care for our chidren. This is the principle of incarnation; being human yet divine, caring for our children's well being as God would, is a fundamental duty of parent. 

Since last year, the Lord gave us a burden for our children's education academically and also spiritually. As a father and a husband, I have fellowshipped my burden to my wife and she has the same mind as mine, to send our children abroad to their place of birth Taiwan, especially, Taipei for their collegee education and spiritual education by being in the  students' centre iverseen by the saints, in the principle of sisters and brothers' houses. Gradually, things became clear as to what we should do; to apply for university study in Taiwan beginning with our eldest daughter as a pioneer in our family. The Lord, since then, has been leading us step by step. It has truly been mysterious yet marvelous in the experiences He has been giving us all this while.

Since the beginning of last month, we started the application process in Nation Taiwan University (NTU). To my utter surprise, it has so much steps even just for an application to complete. Altogether, from the beginning of the process still submission for admission, we have been through twelve crucial steps. Each step of the process has taught us important spiritual lessons. The experiences of Christ and the gaining of Christ in each step have already been very rewarding and its worth the price we paid. No matter what the result would be, we have already gained Christ through the processes!

First, there was the verification process by Taiwan embassy for qualification of our children being overseas Chinese residing in India for a considerable period of time. That it self took over a month to get the final verification and passport stamping.

Second, the learning of Chinese language; reading, listening, understanding, and so forth. My wife and daughter had spent a considerable hours of studies and preparation.

Third, a Chinese language test was conducted by the education department of Taiwan embassy. The Lord led us through and our daughter cleared the exam at level higer than the required qualification. This too, at the right time for it took a couple of months to get the result.

Fourth, there was the need for the school registration to the NTU system for recommendation of qualified students. This required us to approach the Principal of the school and class teacher. It took over a few weeks for approval itself. We went through a period of prayers.

Fifth, the school's recommendation along with the Principal and a particular class teacher's recommendations, which they all coordinated, were issued, scanned, and uploaded. 

Sixth, a email was received from NTU after their approval of the school. The email receiving was delayed for some technical reason and we finally got through this.

Seventh, an enrollment certificate was required to prove that the student is a bona fide student of a school aling with a transcript marks of the students from grade 10, 11, and 12 to prove the academic credentials of the student. 

Eight, these certificate and transcription marks have to be authenticated by the Taiwan embassy. This process was even more complicated. This itself has four levels of authentication. First, from the school with stamp and signature; second, from the state education department with stamp and signature; third, from the ministry of external affairs of the central government. Then and only then, Taiwan embassy did the final authentication.

Only this eighth step took was at least two weeks to complete these processes. Personally, I and my wife went to the school for help when I was directed to approach the department of education directly, which I did so, yet to no avail, as no one was willing to authentic documents from private schools. After much prayers and trying whatever ways possible, we finally decided to approach Taiwan embassy directly in New Delhi. This we did when we met at least three officials and got to know them personally as well. And finally, we were directed to authorised agent who did the job in four days to get four stamps and signatures from four different entities which were finally authenticated by Taiwan embassy. In these processes, we experienced the inner leading of the Lord intimately in fine way.

Ninth, to prove the competency in Englush language, either a certificate of school taught in English or internationally approved English language efficiency test must be produced. For this, my wife and I took a considerable amount of time to decide on which one to produce. I was of the opinion that since our children have been taught in English medium school there was no need for English efficiency test which costs about Rs.18,000. However, I asked my wife to check with an English professor who is also a sister in the church, and upon her advise, I was convinced for this test.

Tenth, after researching for a while, I settled on an IELTS exam centre in Gurugram, which I personally visited and registered our daughter. She, then had to prepare for the test amidst her ongoing school activities and preparation for the midterm exams. The Lord had graced her, and she cleared the exam at 8/9 score, way beyond our expectation. In all the processes, we had much prayers and trusting in the Lord.

Eleventh, a personal statement and study plan had to be prepared which our daughter did after she completed the week's midterm exams. Then, I had to go through it and did the final checking and formatting. Even in this, we experienced the Lord guiding us, how to do in a very fine and detailed way. We even prepared supporting documents PowerPoint to highlight our daughter's academic and extra curriculum achievements.

Twelfth, for the final uploading of all the final documents, my wife and I went through all the documents final checking and editing and made sure that no mistake was made. And for the payment online, I applied for Credit card which I discovered was provided free by ICICI Bank which I never realised. It took a few minutes to get it and got two cards, one as complementary. And finally, we submitted the application online, just three days before the due date.

In all these processes, we experienced the Lord shepherding us step by step. No matter what the result would be, we have gained a considerable experiences of Christ already. It was indeed worth going through the experiences. Thank the Lord for all His sovereign arrangements. Now, we wait upon the Lord for His perfect will to be done on our daughter's life. 

As parent, we have done our best for our children. We leave the rest to the Lord. Our plans have been committed to the Lord in prayers, and now it is upto the Lord to decide what He deems best.

The plans of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from Jehovah. (Proverbs 16:1, RecVer)

May the Lord’s perfect will be done even in our parental shepherding of our children.

Consecration of Twin Boys

On the 2nd of September, I received a surprise call from one sister who used to meet with the church many years ago, who was introduced to me by a brother from her home state, Arunachal Pradesh. Later, she also brought in a good number of her colleagues who were nurse by profession. Due to her busy schedule, she was not able to meet any longer with no leave on Sundays. However, when her relatives came recently to Gurugram for delivery and on the seventh day of the twin baby boys born they desperately wanted a prayed for the consecration of the baby boys. So, I was called and requested. Though I initially thought to just pray over the phone they insisted that I visited them personally, so I took tgat as the Lord’s arrangement and decided to visit. 

However, the day I was to visit them, the 3rd of September, was a very busy day for me. Moreover, the saints from Malaysia were visiting the church for a time of lovefeast fellowship. Many things needed to be done besides my official works. So, I could not visit at the time I initially told them, the afternoon time. So, I postponed it for a later time, assuming that the meeting would be over by 9 PM. But, as we had the saints coming over and the fellowship began, the meeting went on and on and on beyond the scheduled time. In fact, we exceeded by an hour yet I did not have the peace to abruptly stop the meeting. I simply submitted myself to the situation.

Finally, when everything was over, I with another brother went to visit the sister and her relatives. It was exactly 10:30 PM when we arrived the hotel address. When we met her relatives with twin boys, I realised that they had been desperately waiting for me for prayer and dedication of their boys, just before the seventh day from the birth of the boys ended. 

I felt that I should minister some solid word for the family so I gave them a life-changing impression on the Lord Jesus Christ, not only as a religious person but the living God who lives in the believers and transforms them for His divine purpose. I ministered on the purpose of man using Genesis 1:26 and showed them the three parts of man in 1 Thessalonians 5:23. And how God wanted to gain man by first saving them, dispensing His life into them, and growing from within their being unto full maturity. Since they also named their two boys as Nyegom and Nyeeth, having meanings of intelligence, prosperity, or wisdom, I further made it clear to them that only Christ is wisdom using 1 Corinthians 1:24, 30 and that to gain wisdom, one need to gain Christ. Finally, I prayed for the two boys and consecrated them to the Lord. 

But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:24, RecVer)

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption, (1 Corinthians 1:30, RecVer)

Furthermore, after a short time of fellowship, we all prayed together and we left. When I came home, it was already an hour past midnight. Despite the busy schedule, time was well spent. Praise the Lord!

May the Lord fully gain the twin boys and their parent for His divine purpose.

Special Fellowship with a Brother

As I was listening to the sharing of the visiting saints from Malaysia, one brother stood up and testified of how he would love to serve the Lord. I was surprised at his sudden declaration in India, and that too in his first visit. He happened to be one of the sons of the key brothers who brought these saints to India. Later, his father asked me if I could spend some time in fellowship with him. Then, immediately, I took that as the Lord’s leading.

Therefore, I accompanied the saints in their last shopping trip at Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj. As we were all together, I started my conversation with the young brother who consecrated himself to serve the Lord. Meanwhile, I felt the need for a private place so that we could focus on the burden of the fellowship. Then, the other saints left us alone, and I had the inward freedom to openly fellowship the burden in my heart for him. Still, we walked around the mall and settled down in one of the corners where we could sit down and fellowship at length.

Initially, I let him introduce himself about his life, work, goal, Christian life, church life, etc. Then, as the Lord burdened me, I mentioned to him the need for a strong and sweet personal relationship with the Lord. For this, I encouraged him to spend personal prayer time with the Lord at least half an hour or an hour every day. And a time with the Lord in reading and studying the Bible. Besides, I also encouraged him to pray, seek, and resolve to do only the perfect will of the Lord in his life. 

In this time of personal fellowship, I also gave my own testimony of how the Lord called me to serve, how He trained me to seek, know, and do His perfect will, and how He taught me to live by faith, and how His presence has always been a blessing in my life, family life, church life, and even in my service. Then, we prayed together,  especially for the Lord's leading in his life based on all the points fellowshipped with him.

I do believe that was a life-changing moment for my dear young brother from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I do believe the Lord brought him to India for this purpose, along with other lessons he learned. I do believe my going there was for this purpose of fellowshipping with him personally. I also believe that that day, the 4th of September,  will be remembered as a special fellowship day in India in his life.

May the Lord bless my brother and gain him fully for His testimony.

Blending With the Saints from Malaysia

As soon as I arrived from my long distribution trip, the saints from Malaysia came to visit us in Gurugram. Our initial plan was to pick them up from the airport the moment we arrived, but due to the delay in their flight, we changed our plan. Again, the schedule for the next day, the Lord’s Day, was also adjusted immediately. So, all the saints ended up attending the Lord’s Table Meeting in Gurugram and were not distributed to different parts in New Delhi. This was a blessing in disguise for the church in Gurugram. Sovereignly enough, the children's Bible recitation portion was also on hospitality.

Do not forget hospitality, for through this some, without knowing it, have entertained angels. (Hebrews 13:2, RecVer)

Therefore, our schedule was also adjusted to meet the new arrangement. 

Three days later, on Wednesday evening, we had a time of lovefeast, blending and fellowship on the Lord’s move in Mathura. As I was assigned, I picked up the report I made a few years ago and presented it with a PowerPoint presentation on how the Lord led the saints in Mathura step by step to touch the ministry, enjoy the ministry, and take a stand for the Lord’s testimony. 

Then, we had a time for four of the five brothers who were imprisoned to fellowship on their experiences during their imprisonment, the spiritual lessons they had learnt, and their testimony of how the living God led them through and through during and after the imprisonment. Their family members, especially the brothers' wives, also shared their experiences. 

The sharing time was not time-scheduled, and it got prolonged for over an hour. Nevertheless, no saints complained. We all took it as the Lord’s leading and His speaking through the brothers.

The saints, especially the sisters, have coordinated well in preparing the dinner lovefeast. Though the number of attendees swelled at the last minute, and the sisters were a little concerned over the quantity of food pre-planned and the last-minute addition, we all took it as from the Lord. Therefore, I personally decided not to eat the food until all the saints enjoyed their portion. And it so happened that I eventually did not eat at all, as I had no time. For, an impromptu meeting came up after the time of fellowship with the saints.

Then, the next day I also spent my whole day with the visiting saints from Malaysia, attending the fellowship with the saints in New Delhi and joining the visiting saints at the mall for pre-departure shopping. Only when I finally bid them goodbye, I come back to Gurugram. 

By the way, heavy rain jammed the entire road, and it took me over two hours to reach. In all these small small matters, I learned to pay the price of being hospitable to the visiting saints.

The saints from Malaysia also shared their deep experiences from their visit to India this time. Though it was their first visit for most of them, they were able to adjust to the "inconvenient" environment for the sake of the Body. I do believe many of them were touched by the Lord.

Praise the Lord for the blending!

Fellowship: Literature Distribution

As we were enjoying a breakfast fellowship on the 4th of this month at Hotel Lemon Tree Sector 56 in Gurugram with the visiting saints, especially the leading brother from the church in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Malaysian brother himself proposed that I should join them during the day's fellowship to fellowship on the ministry literature distribution in India. Initially, I was not clear if I should go. But towards the end of the fellowship, the same brother reiterated the same point, stating that if I could make it, it would be a blessing to the saints and young people who visited India this time. Then, other brothers also nodded their heads in agreement. So, I no longer had any choice. I had to go.

The whole day had to be sacrificed for the saints. Though I had many pending works, as I had just come back from a long distribution and training trip. But I had no choice but to follow the Lord's leading through the Body. Sometimes, I may not be clear about certain things, but if I listen to the Body, I am following the Lord's leading. The Lord speaks through the members of His body.

As per my daily schedule, I first finished what I was supposed to do, my personal time in the word, and other important works at home and office. Then, I attended the fellowship in Delhi an hour later. When I arrived, I joined in and blended with the saints in their fellowship; the fellowship of the saints from the church in New Delhi and the visiting saints from Malaysia.

When the brothers requested me to share the burden of the literature service, I stood up and asked how much time I could speak. A brother replied that I should just follow the Spirit regardless of the time. Then, I fellowshipped on whatever points the Lord burdened me to.

Burden

The first point is having the burden from the Lord. 

Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:4, RecVer)

Having known the Lord's heart's desire, I am deeply burdened that God's children be brought to the full knowledge of the truth. For this purpose, the Lord has sovereignly assigned the literature service to some of us in India, including me. I therefore took this burden seriously and, with much prayer, carried it out as the Lord led.

Prayer

Once the Lord gives the burden, I must be faithful to follow up in prayer day by day. For this reason, every day, I spend personal time with the Lord, at least an hour, to release the burdens the Lord bestowed upon me, praying back to Him. Though I also pray with other saints in corporate prayer, some personal burdens I pray them personally every day.

This burden, especially for the literature, I do send to some faithful saints who pray faithfully. For without the Body's prayer, I cannot go on. I need the Body, especially their standing in oneness in carrying out the burden the Lord blessed us with.

Now therefore, if I have found favor in Your sight, please let me know now Your ways, that I may know You, so that I may continue to find favor in Your sight. Consider also that this nation is Your people. And He said, My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest. (Exodus 33:13-14, RecVer)

When the burdens have been prayed thoroughly enough, God moves, and His presence is with us, leading us and guiding us. In this regard, my prayer has always been, "Lord, go before us; go in our going, minister in our ministering, speak in our speaking, and distribute in our distribution."

Take Action

Once the burden the Lord gives is clear, and it has been prayed over. The next thing is to take action, to follow up on the burden the Lord blessed us with. 

And with his smooth words, he will cause those who act wickedly toward the covenant to be profane. But the people who know their God will show strength and take action. (Daniel 11:32, RecVer)

The Spirit's Move

Then, the Spirit moves in our move, and we are indeed following the Spirit's move. We absolutely depend on the Spirit's move. The Spirit leads us to whom to meet, what to say, and how to distribute.

Sow the Seed

All the distributions that have been carried out were actually the sowing of the divine seed of the ministry of the word. As the farmer went out to sow seeds, we also went out to sow seeds. Some definitely will fall on the good soil and it will bear fruits, even a thirtyfold, a sixtyfold, or even a hundredfold fruit.

We simply must be faithful to keep sowing the seed and leave the result to the Lord. The Lord is the real Sower, He is the Seed, and He will also produce the fruits too.

Who then is the faithful and prudent slave, whom the master has set over his household to give them food at the proper time? (Matthew 24:45, RecVer)

I did give two testimonies on how the Lord gained some seekers in the states of Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh. And thus released my burden. Then, I also shared a few prayer points on the Recovery Version translation. With that, all the saints prayed, and my assigned responsibility was carried out.